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Carlin Isles has launched an ambitious bid to represent the United States in two different sports at a single Olympic games
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He is popularly known as “The Fastest Man In Rugby”
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The 26-year-old US international winger’s personal best for the 100m was a wind-assisted 10.12sec
USA rugby player Carlin Isles has launched an ambitious bid to represent the United States in two different sports at a single Olympic games after deciding to resurrect his sprinting career.
Isles, who is popularly known as “The Fastest Man In Rugby”, took up the seven-a-side version of the sport in 2012 after failing to make the US Olympic team for the London Games.
The 26-year-old US international winger’s personal best for the 100m, a wind-assisted 10.12sec, actually would have been good enough for a semi-final place in the London Olympics four years ago.
I’m trying to do track and field and rugby at the Olympics,” Isles said.
“I’m doing indoor at the Nationals. I’m supposed to go to Vancouver but my coach is letting me go, so I’m going to the Nationals. I’m hoping to do the 100m in Rio.”
However Isles believes that added bulk acquired during his conversion to rugby could give him an explosiveness capable of taking him under the 10-second barrier.
“I’ve got a lot bigger than what I was in track and field before,” Isles explained.
“I’m still fast. Rugby’s helped me a lot to keep in shape. I feel like I can go faster. I’m always seeking to go deeper into my talent. I feel like I can push myself further and go faster,” he said.
Isles would join an elite band of athletes to compete in two different sports at a single Olympic Games.
However he can take encouragement from compatriot Morris Kirksey, a member of the American rugby team which won the gold medal at the 1920 Olympics.